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Introduction
In this report we present the findings of an assessment of capacity building needs in community forestry development in Thailand, conducted between September and October
2009. The objectives of the assessment were:
1 To identify priority issues associated with community forestry in different contexts in Thailand
2 To carry out a stakeholder analysis in consultation with the RECOFTC Thailand Collaborative Country Support Program ThCCSP manager and the international
consultant 3 To assess capacity building needs for key stakeholders in community forestry
development 4 To provide recommendations to ThCCSP for capacity building in community forestry
in Thailand The assessment approach comprised four main steps:
1 Compiling a country profile, through assessment of the institutional policy and legal framework, identification of key challenges for community forestry development,
and of priorities for ThCCSP, 2 Stakeholder analysis, through identification of stakeholders, preparation of profiles
of key stakeholders, and their relationship with ThCCSP, resulting in strategy for stakeholder participation,
3 Assessment of capacity needs of key stakeholders at both organizational and individual level
4 Identification of priorities for capacity development, based on assessment of institutional development priorities and priorities of stakeholders and ThCCSP.
The preliminary results from the assessment of individual capacities were presented in the stakeholders o sultati e eeti g held in December, 2009. Participants in the meeting and
some key stakeholders have provided comments and suggestions. Their comments and
suggestions have been incorporated in the report of our findings presented below.
Findings
1. Country Profile
Less than a third 28.4 of Thaila d s land area of 51.4 million ha was still under forest
cover in 2005 FAO, 2009. The decline in deforestation rates presently the lowest in South East Asia indicates that Thailand is approaching the end of the forest transition stage. Most
of the remaining forest cover is located in mountainous areas in the Northern, Western, Southern and lower Eastern parts of Thailand, with some remnant lowland forest, including
244 000 ha of mangrove forest along the coasts of Thailand.
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Though less tha of Thaila d s la d area is o ered ith forest, 48 of the total area has been designated as forest reserve including special protection categories such as
national parks. It has been estimated in the late nineties, that one third of the cultivated area i Thaila d as lo ated i forest areas, sustaining around 8-15 million people in
about 150,000 villages with predominantly insecure settlement and use rights for the land
they are living on Neef et. al.
. These problems have been recognized for a long time in Thailand, and an increasing variety
of approa hes to e ha e people s parti ipatio i forestr ha e ee i itiated si e the 1970s. In the 1980s, development research projects started to explore foreste
rs participation in common property resource management regimes. The participatory land
use planning and management approach developed and tested in the Sam mun watershed area in Northern Thailand is an example of this approach.
By the late 1980s it was also recognized tha t legal re og itio of o
u ities management rights were a requisite for success. A draft community forestry bill in the early 1990s was the
start of concerted efforts by proponents of community rights to put a regulatory framework for community forestry development in place. This also triggered initiatives from opponents
of community rights including conservationist NGOs to thwart acceptance of the bill, with more success than the proponents. There still is no community forestry legislation at
present. However, the conflicts resulting from competing claims over the forest, also triggered other
reactions. Many of the affected communities have organized themselves with the support of NGOs and other development organizations as
o u it forest et orks at local,
provincial, regional and national levels. The regional and national networks were originally shaped as mechanisms for demonstrating the effectiveness of community forestry as a basis
for advocacy to adopt the Community Forestry Act proposed in 1993. These networks represent an important part of a wider social movement in Thailand. This phenomenon does
not only increase civil society involvement in the development of national institutions , but also assist communities in their efforts to improve the management of their community
forests both traditional andor recently established ones. However, because of the opposition and attempts to weaken the CF Act, the community forest networks, especially
at regional and national levels have lost much of their original momentum. Many of the local community forestry organizations and networks have changed their strategies towards
the collaboration at local level, especially with SAOs and local officials. Starting in 1998, ThCCSP and its partners have facilitated the CF-Learning Forum as a a
national platform for community forestry networks. Later, networks initiated the CF Assembly through the forum. The CF Assembly serves as a coordinating mechanism among
CF networks to link with partners and stakeholders nationwide.
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Other new developments include the emergence of participatory approaches in conservation, changes as part of wider administrative reform and new elements and actors
in forest policy discourse.
Participation in Conservation
In conservation,
international NGOs, such as WWF, IUCN, and Rak-thai Foundation Care International in Thailand have focused on issues of international concern, such as biodiversity
conservation and landscape rehabilitation. They usually focus on a few large-scale areas, such as biodiversity hotspots. ThCCSP has worked with these organizations as a learning partner and
provided technical support on request. ThCCSP is well-recognized for its expertise in applying technical forestry knowledge to strengthen local communities leaders, organizations, resource-
users in their community forest planning and management.
Although the Department of National Parks only promotes l
i ited a ti e parti ipatio i the se se of shari g e efits and decision-making powers, there are many pilot projects implemented in the buffer zone
andor forest complex corridors. In these, community participation is promoted in term of making agreements for boundaries and resource access that are recognized by local
people. In addition, SAOs have decision-making power in park establishment. Finally, the key implementing organization for mangrove forest like Department of Marine and Coastal
Resources does not have a special legal framework for coastal resources, but works effectively with local communities and authorities Sub-District Administrative
Organizations to conserve and restore mangrove forests by providing technical and in-kind support.
For the RFDCFO, their work in community forestry is facilitated by an administrative order, enabling them to recognize community forests in the reserved forest land, or other
forestland legally under the authority of the RFD. However, there remain considerable limitations to get support from CFO, for
–the many- communities that live in or manage resources in protected areas, including head watershed areas.
Administrative Reforms “i e the i ple e tatio of a refor of the pu li ad i istratio i itiated in October
2002, there has been a transition in the authority over forest lands. The RFD has been
divided into the three departments under the Ministry of Natural Resources and E iro
e t MN‘E . The MN‘E s Depart e t of Natio al Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation has control of forest land i
o ser atio zo es , while RFD takes control of forest land outside protected areas, mostly known as
forest reser e la d. I additio , the Department of Coastal and Marine Resources is responsible for mangrove forests many of
which are managed by local communities. The RFD, through the CFO at national HQ level and the Community Forest Section at
provincial level under the Office of Natural Resource and Environment, is the main governmental organization responsible for supporting CF development. However, as their
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mandate is restricted to forest lands outside the protected areas, many forestry communities are excluded from their support.
Recently, Sub-District Administrative Organizations SAOs have been given a greater role in community forestry. Apart from legalized community-managed resources at local level,
many of them have set up new community forests and rules. They become key actors in community forestry and community-based resource management.
In the Decentralization Act of 1994, the roles and responsibilities of the Sub-district Administrative Organizations SAOs in the control and management of local assets, are
defined. Recently, a new constitution also mentions rights and responsibilities of local communities in the sustainable use and management of natural resources.
The more prominent potential role of local government organizations is reflected in Figure 1.
strong association; some association; building connection through capacity building activities
The actors and their roles sketched in Figure 1, should be considered and analyzed prior to initiating any collaboration in capacity building. Under the present institutional conditions,
the main potential for ThCCSP is to work on enhancing the enabling environment at the local level, and use the lessons from that to
de elop good pra ti es for poli recommendations at a later stage. In addition, ThCCSP should be aware of interesting pilot
projects implemented by the Department of National Parks and consider to get involved in
Policy Makers
Civil Society NGOs
Networks Academic
Institutions Government
organizations Central
Offices Provincial
District offices
Communities Leaders
Forest Users RECOFTC
point of entry Local Admin
Organizations province
Sub-district
Figure 1 Key Actors in Community Forestry Development
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those if possible. It appears therefore, that ThCCSP can in the future be more active in community forestry in protected areas management.
Policy Discourse
As indicated earlier, the contested nature of community forestry has contributed to the development of a lively policy discourse on communities, forests and governance. Some of
the major ideas that have evolved in this discourse are summarized below. There is now a wider spread recognition and better grounded recognition in Thailand, that
communities that are highly dependent on forest resources and that can share rights and responsibilities to maintain the resources must have more active roles in forest
management than those of indirect usersbeneficiaries Poffenberger, 1997; Punthasain, 2002; Rakyutitum, 2001. Cooperation among the users can help them to cope with
dilemmas regarding the management and use of community forests. However, in order to achieve the cooperation for sustainability through community-based forest management,
there is a need to develop various mechanisms and strategic alliances with other actors. Civil society has played an increasingly significant role in supporting and strengthening local
communities Gilmour, 1998. Apart from the natural resources and environmental network of the Thai Non-
Go er e tal Orga izatio s Coordi ati g Development Committee NGO-
COD, academics from many leading universities like Chulalongkorn University Wankaew, 2002, Thammasat University Punthasain, 1999 and 2002, and Chiang Mai University
Ganjanapan, 2000; Laungaramsri, 2002; Wittayapak, 2002 have been steadily supporting community forestry, also in protected areas. These academics produce evidence and
promote the recognition that there were people living in the protected areas prior to the legal designations of forest and protected area
, and that these local communities need the forest resources for maintaining their livelihoods.
The people living in or near protected areas are negatively affected by the declaration of protected areas, if they are not adequately compensated as at present. The original
proposal for the CF Act the people s version included provisions to recognize the rights
over community forests in protected areas. However, this clashed with ideas and attitudes of many middle class and urban people, including many people working in the media.
Participatory solutions currently emerging in the discourse and on the ground, are going beyond what is proposed in the current version of the CF Act. Although ThCCSP does at
present not directly work in a focused manner on issues of community involvement in protected areas, they do work on building-
up good pra ti e a d pro idi g lear i g platforms that are a significant basis for communities both in and outside protected areas to
gain recognition from the wider society. Under the present evolution of the institutional framework, many civil society groups,
including academic institutions, NGOs, and networks, have taken the opportunity of the decentralization policy and the increasing legitimacy of community rights as part of this, to
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strengthen local resource governance through working with SAOs , as per the provisions in the new constitution. The SAO is perceived and expected to be a strategic organization with
legitimacy for community-based natural resource management. Not only civil groups, but also many international development agencies and governmental organizations at
provincial and regional level also increasingly work with SAOs. Under the present institutional conditions, ThCCSP has also demonstrated that there is a good potential to
institutionalize community forestry at the local level, by linking communities, SAOs, other local authorities, and local NGOs. This work provides the basis for scaling up the policy
recommendations based on tangible practices on the ground. E a ples fro ork i Thaila d s a gro e areas de o strate ho lo al a age e t
initiatives gain recognition at national level. At the landscape level, there are many local, regional and international NGOs involved in capacity building for mangrove and coastal
resource management and conservation. Awareness of global warming, and natural hazards has grown much in recent years. There is
evidence that demonstrates the important role of mangroves in protecting and reducing the impact of natural disasters. People
s li es and community assets are protected by these natural barriers.
However, mangroves in Thailand are facing three key problems related to the utilization of mangrove areas: conversion to shrimp ponds, for property development and
overexploitation by local people. Collaboration among local communities to protect and use mangrove resources in a sustainable manner is one of the key solutions to improve their
livelihood and protect against the risks from natural disasters Chotthong and Aksornkoae, 2009.The success of local initiatives in sustainable mangrove management has contributed
to the go er e t s de isio to ri g 166 000 ha of mangroves under sustainable
management in the near future.
Implications for RECOFTC’s Thailand Collaborative Country Support Program ThCCSP
In the consultation meeting on ThCCSP strategy, stakeholders identified some of the possible implications for community forestry development support, in the following terms:
There are still differences and conflicts regarding CF management and views. It is
necessary to educate and create understanding among Thai societal groups as well as to build collaboration among multi-stakeholders.
NRM needs to be more holistic, and work needs to be expanded beyond a
community forestry focus. We need to understand landscape and ecosystems as a whole, so that all actors in ecosystem have to be recognized and be a part of NRM.
Economic assessment is an important issue. Communities have to be trained for and
practice their own ecosystem assessment and monitoring.
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Youth groups have become a target group for the CFO. CFO still needs greater
collaboration with other sectors to support young people to participate in the process of CF management and conservation
ThCCSP can be an intermediary for organizing forums and facilitating learning and
exchanges knowledge for better understanding and skills in natural resources and CF management, particularly as concerns better livelihood of forest dependents and
rural poor.
F orest a age e t a d justi e i ‘EDD should e a strategi issue. Other focal
themes include good governance, rights, conflict management. All themes should link to the context of CBNRM and CFM in Thailand
Continuing support and strengthened CF Assembly
– Thailand and other CF networks.
Working though community-based approach in collaboration with local government
in order to strengthen practitioners in the field of CF. Based on the evidence presented in this country profile, we draw one conclusion and
present 3 recommendations:
CONCLUSION 1: To achieve the sustainability of forest landscapes in Thailand, local communities need to be institutionally supported through various tools and approaches,
as well as to operate in an enabling environment supporting legal recognition of community management.
RECOMMENDATION 1: ThCCSP needs to recognize the contested nature of community forestry in Thailand, and develop strategies that creatively build on the multiple
perspectives held by stakeholders.
RECOMMENDATION 2: ThCCSP is to continue to focus on support for institutionalization of CF at local level and scale up from local level, through collaboration with CFO, SAOs,
community groups, and other civil society organizations.
RECOMMENDATION 3: ThCCSP should consider wider landscape issues, local and global environmental services and how to reconcile these with local livelihood priorities.
2. Stakeholder Analysis
